Перевод Instant Karma!

«Instant Karma!» (рус. Мгновенная карма) — песня Джона Леннона, выпущенная в виде сингла 6 февраля 1970 года лейблом Apple Records и ставшая третьим сольным синглом музыканта. Это одна из трёх песен Леннона (наряду с «Imagine» и «Give Peace a Chance»), попавшая в Зал славы рок-н-ролла и одна из самых быстро записанных песен в истории поп-музыки. Леннон сочинил и записал её в студии «Эбби Роуд» за один день, а спустя всего 10 дней песня вышла в виде сингла. Леннон сказал в одном из интервью: «я сочинил её за завтраком, записал в обед, а к ужину она была уже издана». Песня была спродюсирована Филом Спектором.

В записи трека принял участие Plastic Ono Band — Джон Леннон (вокал, гитара и электропиано), Билли Престон (фортепиано), Клаус Форман (бас-гитара и бэк-вокал), Алан Уайт (ударные), Джордж Харрисон (электрогитара и бэк-вокал) и Йоко Оно (бэк-вокал). Сингл поднялся до 3-го места в Billboard Hot 100[1], до 5-го места в UK Singles Chart и до первого места в хит-параде Франции. Леннон и Йоко исполнили песню в программе Top of the Pops.

Everybody was going on about karma … But it occurred to me that karma is instant as well as it influences your past life or your future life … I'm fascinated by commercials, as an art form … So the idea of instant karma was like the idea of instant coffee: presenting something in a new form."[14]
– John Lennon to Playboy magazine, 1980


Тогда все носились с этой кармой, разговоры были только об этом. А мне пришло в голову, хорошо бы если бы карма и все это воздаяние было мгновенным. Если прошлое действительно влияет на будущее. Я в восторге от рекламных слоганов, по-моему это форма искусства. Ну и идея мгновенного воздаяния то же самое как идея быстрорастворимого кофе. Создал причину - сразу получай результат. Просто новая упаковка для старой философии.

Из интервью Плэйбою, 1980.

Идея песни родилась из разговоров с женой Тони Кокса (второй муз Йоко Оно) - Милинде Кендал - Melinde Kendal. Джон и Йоко посетили пару в Дании, куда приехали, чтобы встретиться с дочерью - Кьоко.


Together with his wife, Yoko Ono, John Lennon spent New Year 1970 in Aalborg, Denmark, establishing a relationship with Ono's former husband, artist Tony Cox, and visiting Cox and Ono's daughter Kyoko. The visit coincided with the start of what Lennon termed "Year 1 AP (After Peace)",[3] following his and Ono's much-publicised Bed-Ins and other peace-campaign activities throughout 1969.

To mark the new era, on 20 January 1970, the couple shaved off their shoulder-length hair, an act that Britain's Daily Mirror described as "the most sensational scalpings since the Red Indians went out of business". Lennon and Ono pledged to auction the shorn hair for a charitable cause,[8] having similarly announced on 5 January[2] that they would donate all future royalties from their recordings to the peace movement. Also while in Denmark, the Lennons, Cox and the latter's current partner, Melinde Kendall, discussed the concept of "instant karma",[10] whereby the causality of one's actions is immediate rather than borne out over a lifetime. Author Philip Norman writes of the concept's appeal: "The idea was quintessential Lennon – the age-old Buddhist law of cause and effect turned into something as modern and synthetic as instant coffee and, simultaneously, into a bogey under the stairs that can get you if you don't watch out.

По возвращении в Лондон по причине наступления новой эры - 1970 года, Джон и Йоко стригут волосы и меняют их на трусы Мохаммеда Али.

On 27 January 1970, two days after returning to the UK, Lennon woke up with the beginnings of a song inspired by his conversations with Cox and Kendall. Working at home on a piano, Lennon developed the idea and came up with a melody for the composition, which he titled "Instant Karma!"

The song employs a similar chord structure to that of "Three Blind Mice"[10] and "Some Other Guy", after Lennon had used the same progression in his 1967 composition for the Beatles, "All You Need Is Love". Later in 1970, he would adopt the melody of "Three Blind Mice", an English nursery rhyme, for his song "My Mummy's Dead".

In their book The Words and Music of John Lennon, Ben Urish and Kenneth Bielen suggest that in the first verse of "Instant Karma!", Lennon rebukes his listeners with the sarcastic lines: "Get yourself together / Pretty soon you're gonna be dead." Norman comments on the "hippie catchphrase of the moment" contained in the first of these two lines, which together provide a warning that is "obviously not to be taken literally".[13] Author Mark Hertsgaard notes the lyric "Why in the world are we here?" as a further example of Lennon "asking what purpose his life on earth was to serve", after his 1966 composition "Strawberry Fields Forever".

As with "Give Peace a Chance" and "Power to the People" – Lennon singles from 1969 and 1971 respectively – the chorus has an anthem-like quality, as he sings: "We all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun." Norman describes the chorus as Lennon restating his message of "peace campaigning and non-violent, optimistic togetherness".[13] Lennon biographer John Blaney writes that the song is an appeal "for mankind to take responsibility for its fate" and that it was "Lennon developing his own brand of egalitarianism

Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead

What in the world you thinking of
Laughing in the face of love
What on earth you tryin' to do
It's up to you, yeah you

Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna look you right in the face
Better get yourself together darlin'
Join the human race

Мгновенное воздаяние настигнет тебя,
Чтобы дать тебе в глаз.
Не дай ему повода,
иначе ты протянешь совсем недолго.

Живя в этом мире, о чем ты вообще думаешь,
Когда смеешься любви в лицо.
Твоя карма зависит только от тебя
К тебе возвратится все то,
Что ты когда-либо хотел сделать.

Мгновенное воздаяние настигнет тебя,
Чтобы посмотреть в твои глаза.
Не дай ему повода,
Стань частью человечества.

How in the world you gonna see
Laughin' at fools like me
Who in the hell d'you think you are
A super star
Well, right you are

Чем станет для тебя этот мир,
Если ты смеешься над дураками вроде меня.
Ты возомнил себя суперзвездой?
Да, все так и есть , теперь ты – суперзвезда.


Припев:

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Ev'ryone come on

МЫ ВСЕ СИЯЕМ КАК ЛУНА И ЗВЕЗДЫ,
МЫ СВЕТИМ КАК СОЛНЦЕ,
ОТДАВАЯ СВОЕ ТЕПЛО И СВЕТ.
Подпевай!


Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you off your feet
Better recognize your brothers
Ev'ryone you meet
Why in the world are we here
Surely not to live in pain and fear
Why on earth are you there
When you're ev'rywhere
Come and get your share

Мгновенное воздаяние настигнет тебя
И свалит с ног.
Пока этого не случилось, признай свое родство
со всеми кого повстречал на пути.
Зачем живем мы в этом мире,
Определенно не для того, чтобы страдать от боли и страха.
Зачем мы нужны на этой земле,
Если мы везде
Мы одновременно в любой точке вселенной.
Давай, поделись своим светом.

Припев:

МЫ ВСЕ СИЯЕМ КАК ЛУНА И ЗВЕЗДЫ,
МЫ СВЕТИМ КАК СОЛНЦЕ,
ОТДАВАЯ СВОЕ ТЕПЛО И СВЕТ.

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
On and on and on on and on

МЫ ВСЕ СИЯЕМ КАК ЛУНА И ЗВЕЗДЫ,
МЫ СВЕТИМ КАК СОЛНЦЕ,
ОТДАВАЯ СВОЕ ТЕПЛО И СВЕТ.

Мы по-прежнему светим,
Продолжаем дальше сиять.

Откуда Леннон взял вступление:

Recording

Although still officially a member of the Beatles, Lennon had privately announced his departure from the group in September 1969.[28] He was now keen to issue "Instant Karma!" immediately as a single, the third under his and Ono's Plastic Ono Band moniker.[29] The recording session took place at Abbey Road Studios in north-west London, on the evening of 27 January.[15] Lennon's fellow musicians at the session were Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Alan White[30] and Billy Preston[31] – all of whom had performed at the December 1969 Peace for Christmas Concert,[32][33] as part of the Plastic Ono Supergroup.[34][35] The recording engineer for "Instant Karma!" was EMI mainstay Phil McDonald.[31] Spector produced the session,[36] arriving late[37] after Harrison had found him at Apple's office and persuaded him to attend.[38]

[T]here was this little guy walking around with "PS" on his shirt, and I was thinking, "Who is this guy?" … When he turned on the playback [after recording], it was just incredible. First, it was ridiculously loud, but also there was the ring of all these instruments and the way the song had such motion. As a first experience of the difference from the way you played it to the sound in the control room, it was overwhelming. And I knew immediately who he was – Phil Spector.[39]
– Klaus Voormann, describing his first experience of working with Spector and his Wall of Sound technique

The line-up for the basic track, before overdubs, was Lennon (vocals, acoustic guitar), Harrison (electric guitar), Preston (organ), Voormann (bass) and White (drums).[31] Lennon later recalled of the recording: "Phil (Spector) came in and said, 'How do you want it?' And I said, '1950s' and he said 'Right' and BOOM! ... he played it back and there it was."[40] The song uses a similar amount of echo to 1950s Sun Records recordings.[23]

The musicians recorded ten takes,[13] the last of which was selected for overdubbing.[2] To create what Spector biographer Mark Ribowsky terms a "four-man Wall of Sound" production,[41] Lennon added grand piano onto the basic track,[37][42] while Harrison and White shared another piano and Voormann played electric piano.[43][nb 2] In addition, Beatles aide Mal Evans overdubbed chimes (or tubular bells)[45] and White added a second, muffled drum part.[44] With Lennon feeling that the chorus was missing something, Preston and Evans[15] were sent to bring in a group of people from a nightclub to provide backing vocals.[46] These newcomers and all the musicians, along with Allen Klein, then added chorus vocals,[45] with Harrison directing the singing.[31]

Although Lennon and Spector disagreed over the bass sound,[36] Lennon was "ecstatic" about the producer's work on "Instant Karma", author Peter Doggett writes.[38] White's drums assumed the role of a lead instrument,[47] positioned prominently in the mix,[43] of which Spector biographer Richard Williams would write in 1972: "No Beatles record had ever possessed such a unique sound; Spector had used echo to make the drums reverberate like someone slapping a wet fish on a marble slab, and the voices sounded hollow and decayed."[48] Spector wanted to add a string section to the track in Los Angeles, but Lennon insisted that the recording was complete

Ну вот и чудненько.

In the studio
Lennon booked Studio Two at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, and the session began at 7pm. George Harrison suggested to Lennon that Phil Spector produce the session.

George Harrison:
"John phoned me up one morning in January and said, 'I've written this tune and I'm going to record it tonight and have it pressed up and out tomorrow - that's the whole point: Instant Karma, you know.' So I was in. I said, 'OK, I'll see you in town.' I was in town with Phil Spector and I said to Phil, 'Why don't you come to the session?' There were just four people: John played piano, I played acoustic guitar, there was Klaus Voormann on bass, and Alan White on drums. We recorded the song and brought it out that week, mixed - instantly - by Phil Spector."

The legendary Wall Of Sound producer proved a perfect match for Lennon and Harrison, who later enlisted him to work on the Let It Be recordings. He also produced subsequent solo albums including All Things Must Pass and Imagine.

"It was great, 'cause I wrote it in the morning on the piano, like I said many times, and I went to the office and I sang it. I thought, 'Hell, let's do it,' and we booked the studio. And Phil came in, he said, 'How do you want it?' I said, 'You know, 1950 but now.' And he said 'Right,' and boom, I did it in just about three goes. He played it back, and there it was. I said, 'A bit more bass,' that’s all. And off we went. See, Phil doesn't fuss about with fuckin' stereo or all the bullshit. Just 'Did it sound alright? Let’s have it.' It doesn't matter whether something's prominent or not prominent. If it sounds good to you as a layman or as a human, take it. Don't bother whether this is like that or the quality of this. That suits me fine."
John Lennon, 1970
Lennon Remembers, Jann S Wenner

Instant Karma! was recorded in 10 takes between 7pm and midnight. From then until 3am a number of overdubs were added, including three tracks of backing vocals. These were the contribution of anyone who happened to be in the studio, plus people rounded up by Billy Preston from Hatchetts nightclub in London.

In the final hour of the session four stereo mixes were made, the last of which was issued on the UK single. A different mix was created in Los Angeles a few days later by Spector, unknown to Lennon, and released on the US single.

Geoff Emerick began engineering the Instant Karma! session, before Spector decided his presence was making him edgy and he was asked to leave. Emerick later claimed that the song was given a rough mix which Spector marked 'Do not use', but Lennon's haste to release the song meant it was issued regardless.

Emerick created three mono mixes on 10 February 1970, in a session which took place from 2.30-3.45pm. He took out one of Lennon's two lead vocal parts, to allow the song to be used as a backing track for the Plastic Ono Band's appearance on the BBC's music show Top Of The Pops the following day.

*

Мгновенное воздаяние настигнет тебя,
Чтобы дать тебе в глаз.

Лучшие строки! Остальное - белиберда

2Tape Recoder:
>Recording

Интересно, захватывающе расписано. Не выдержал, переслушал ремастер 2010 года.
Два десятка строк ушло на описание гениального труда великого мастера по фамилии Спектор.
А в итоге из инструментов слышно лишь барабаны, пиано и, местами, бас. Плюс к тому вокал Леннона, хлопки и хор. Феноменально!

2Vergilii:

>Интересно, захватывающе расписано. Не выдержал,
>переслушал ремастер 2010 года.
>Два десятка строк ушло на описание гениального
>труда великого мастера по фамилии Спектор.
>А в итоге из инструментов слышно лишь барабаны,
>пиано и, местами, бас. Плюс к тому вокал Леннона,
>хлопки и хор. Феноменально!

Надо было в МНОГОКАНАЛЬНОМ варианте слушать!.. :)))

2Heffalump:
>в МНОГОКАНАЛЬНОМ варианте

Это Спектора-то!?

2Vergilii:

>А в итоге из инструментов слышно лишь барабаны,
>пиано и, местами, бас.

То есть гитар неслышно и все, мы сразу огорчаемся и пишем петицию "Где же гитары"?

>Феноменально!

Пока великий мастер томится в застенках, почему бы заняться ремастерингом ленноновской нетленки, сделать все бубны на записи слышимыми.
Уже не говорю о том, что автора устроил именно такой звук. Что с учетом контекста записи более чем понятно.

2Tape Recoder:
>Уже не говорю о том, что автора устроил именно такой звук. Что с учетом контекста записи более чем понятно.

Так и я о том - строчки бы хватило для описания этого студийного "подвига".

2Vergilii:

>Так и я о том - строчки бы хватило для описания
>этого студийного "подвига".

Текст из вики, можете отредактировать весь и выкинуть все то, что Вас так коробит, смущает, вызывает чувство негодования и прочая.

2Tape Recoder:
>Текст из вики

К Вам нет претензий. Лишь благодарность за публикацию.

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